Warning Sign

Warning Sign (1985)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Hal Barwood

Starring: Sam Waterston, Kathleen Quinlan, Yaphet Kotto, Jeffrey DeMunn, Richard Dysart

From: 20^th Century Fox

What a double bill I created for myself; the second film will be reviewed late tonight: 

Would you believe that last night I saw two movies about a rage virus and neither one was 28 Days Later or 28 Weeks Later? That idea is not original to the 21^st century, I'll put it that way. Not that I am complaining, as it's a great concept which can be used in a variety of ways. Here, this movie is helped by its cast: Sam Waterston, Kathleen Quinlan, Yaphet Kotto, Jeffrey DeMunn, Richard Dysart, G.W. Bailey, and Rick Rossovich.

Waterston is the sheriff in a small Utah town that has a company which does genetic research on crops; between that and the opening shot of an airplane dusting crops, I was reminded of paranoid conspiracy theories about chemtrails and how some loathe the idea of food being genetically modified. I realize I could be opening a can of worms here but I think that chemtrails stuff is balderdash and more good than bad has been done as a result of “Frankenfood”; how companies like Monsanto act, that is worthy of scorn... then again, here that company is actually a front for another conspiracy topic, that being germ warfare and how the United States is doing that as all other countries are despite international agreements that have been signed. Unfortunately, such a scenario is not so hard for me to swallow, along with there being an accident and dozens of people getting infected. With a rage virus, no... but with some other nasty illness, yeah.

Anyhow, the sheriff's wife is Quinlan and she's a security guard at this company. It's not bugf*** insane like you'd expect an Italian movie version of this plot, although there are still over the top moments (one involving fire) and it's amusing to see this cast in such a setting where there is chaos and that fortified building being destroyed. While not a graphic movie I still enjoyed what I saw, and how fire was used in one instance. The fact that Dean Cundey did the cinematography, there's a synth score, and the movie takes its time are further benefits, and why I can say this is pretty good.